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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says Barcelona should not have played amidst Catalonia violence

Pep Guardiola believes this past weekend’s La Liga game between Barcelona and Las Palmas should not have gone ahead amidst Catalonia’s independence referendum.

Barca had seen their request to have the game postponed rejected and ultimately played behind closed doors, romping to a 3-0 win amid the backdrop of violence which had struck the city when voters were assaulted by police.

And former Barcelona coach Guardiola feels the game should not have been played at all, telling Catalunya Radio: "I wouldn't have played the Barca-Las Palmas game, not at all.

"And if it did have to be played, then not behind closed doors. You do it with the public there. With all the consequences."

A clearly impassioned Guardiola continued: "The images don't lie, there were people who wanted to vote and they've been attacked with violence.

"There are more than 700 hurt...people who were going to vote, not rob a bank.

"Spain will try to hide the reality, but the rest of the world's media will show it. The images are clear and everybody knows what has happened.

"We don't want them to think that we don't like Spain. Spain is an incredible country, with its literature, sport, cities... but you need to understand that there's a population who want to decide their future.

"The Prime Minister of the Spanish government must accept questions, continue being the Prime Minister of all Spaniards.

"The laws are different now to 30 years ago. Everything's changed. The message from the Prime Minister of the Government, from the opposition, has made me sad.

"Why can't we learn from the British, who have had many more years of democracy than us?"

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